When Heather Clark and Matthew Mazzotta set out to come up withthe craziest art project they could think of, little did they knowthe company they would be keeping, both real and virtual.
Since hatching their idea more than six months ago for a"busycle," a human-pedaled bus, they've received advice fromengineers in the Netherlands and South Africa, a mechanic fromAustralia, a bicycle sculptor from Baltimore, university professors,Boston-area bicycle clubs, and a junkyard scavenger and tinkerer whohas appeared on British television. A pastry chef has volunteeredtime on weekends.
Even the City of Boston called them up, eager to see the funky-sounding contraption recruit riders from various neighborhoods andparticipate in fall bicycling and other events.
"Basically the whole project has come about because of theInternet," said Clark, 27, a Brookline resident who managesaffordable housing projects.
"The second we said, `Let's build something with bicycles andengineering,' the whole community came out like a roaring river,"said Mazzotta, 28, a Jamaica Plain carpenter.
Thinking they had invented the concept, the artists who had noengineering experience and little metalworking skill received e-mails alerting them to earlier human-powered vehicles. The Dutch haveseveral, including a beer bike, with a movable bar.
But Clark and Mazzotta, who have been friends since collaboratingon a high school art project a decade ago, say the project combinesseveral interests: environmental sustainability, use of recycledmaterials, and community interaction. "In terms of symbolism, theconcept of converting an existing vehicle to pedal power is prettyexciting," Clark said.
"We're interested in grass-roots activism and people comingtogether and making change in their communities," she said. "We'realso interested in people challenging themselves to come up withdifferent solutions, being sustainable, being less reliant on foreignoil, having a more positive environment for children to grow up. Andjust how do you have more fun?"
On a practical level, the busycle might have a hard time competingwith other forms of transportation. It will probably manage 13 to 15miles per hour on level ground and three-quarters to to 1 mile perhour up a modest hill of, say, 5 percent grade, said Jeff Del Papa, aself-described "natural scrounge" involved in the project.
"I wouldn't go up Beacon Hill," said David Gordon Wilson, an MITmechanical engineering professor emeritus of mechanical engineeringand author of the book "Bicycle Science." "I mean, they could do it,but it wouldn't be very exciting. People would be walking by you . .. "
Harnessing the energy of 14 bicyclists and a driver to tool aroundtown on the frame of a van was "quite an engineering problem,"because of the weight of the vehicle and the people, said Wilson, whohas served as one of the team's advisers. He and other engineersrecommended finding a transmission that could provide very low gears,such as those used in many pickup trucks.
"We decided the driver is only responsible for steering andbrakes, because that's pretty important," Clark said after showing ashort film at a sneak preview at a Cambridge bar in late July, as acrowd of 100 chuckled.
Beyond sweating out the engineering, though, the project has beenan organizational feat, with materials, space, and people to sort outon a deadline, Mazzotta said: "It was like starting a business fromscratch in one month."
The last Sunday in July signaled a small victory, with the arrivalof a newly found truck transmission that afternoon, though otherwiseit was a slow day, filled with calculations and measurements at theirdonated workspace at Sparqs Industrial Arts Club in Woburn.
Having spent $100 on the transmission, $20 on a master brakecylinder, "plus a lot of pizza," Clark said, the cocreators have beenrelying on lots of donated parts, including the 3/4-ton van.
Volunteers have helped with everything from brainstorming thedesign to alerting the pair to the Woburn studio space.
"I was starting to offer certain things and I hadn't even met theguy," Dave Martinez, a bicycle and pedicab mechanic, said of hisinitial enthusiastic conversation with Mazzotta.
"I'm reminded of [Alexander] Calder, who would build a maquetteand give it to a structural engineer, who'd figure out how to buildit," Del Papa said. "This is a time-honored system."
On that Sunday, Del Papa split his time between readjusting thebrake pedal and working with the crew to design a set of recumbentseats. The adjustable seats should allow children to ride as well,Mazzotta said at the sneak preview.
The team has been trying to expand its volunteer circles evenfurther, by recruiting people to ride the busycle and to provideideas for routes.
The busycle is also a metaphor for larger themes, including itsuse of found and donated items and asking for help from neighbors andfriends, said Meg Rotzel, director of the nonprofit Berwick ResearchInstitute in Roxbury, which has supported the project through astipend, artistic feedback, and publicity.
"It'd be very difficult to ride the busycle without 14 otherpeople riding with you, both in body and mind," she said.
For more information, see www.busycle.com and www.hubonwheels.org.The busycle is scheduled to participate in the Hub on Wheels event atFranklin Park today, and today's parade celebrating Boston's 375thbirthday.
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